May 21, 2009

Strawberry Picking Pick

It's May, which means strawberries are ripe around here. Every year I head out to the country with Little Page in tow to pick strawberries for strawberry jelly. It's become a tradition we both enjoy. This year, I packed a picnic lunch and brought our favorite strawberry-picking book. Okay, it's our only strawberry picking book, but that doesn't mean we love it any less.

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear is a fabulous book for kids of all ages. It's full-color illustrations are adorable and the story, though short enough to hold the attention of a 2 year old, is engaging enough for older kids. One of the things I love about this book is that the reader is actually speaking to the main character, Little Mouse, who responds in each picture. You, as the reader, attempt to convince Little Mouse that his strawberry is in danger from the Big Hungry Bear. Little Mouse does his best to protect his strawberry, but in the end only you can help him save it!

Now that she's 4 - and an incredible reading machine - Little Page was able to read the book to me while we ate our sandwiches and munched on freshly picked strawberries.